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Golf is booming in Hong Kong - just ask anyone who tries to book a weekend tee time at Kau Sai Chau.

  While it is not impossible to get one of the coveted 368 daily places available at Hong Kong's only public golf course, increasing numbers of people leave disappointed. The 36-hole layout is usually fully booked.

  There is, however, hope for casual players and those wanting to learn the game. Three new facilities have recently opened and others are in the planning stage.

  The Provisional Regional Council is conducting cost estimates and preliminary designs for a nine-hole course and driving range at Tai Po and a driving range at Tseung Kwan O.

  Both will be developed on landfills - sites that cannot be used for many other purposes.

  Original estimates put the Tai Po facility at Shuen Wan at about $200 million. It will include par three and par four holes and possibly a par five, depending on space.

  The driving range at Tseung Kwan O is part of an estimated $100 million facility which will include five grass pitches for sport and a model car-racing track.

  Both projects were initiated in 1995 by the Recreation and Culture branch (now Home Affairs Bureau) and had been expected to be completed late this year.

   However, a spokesman for the council said the projects had been re-scheduled and construction was expected to begin early next year. Work should take about 18 months to two years to complete.

  The council said the scale of the facilities was 'subject to detailed design and there is no firm programme yet'.

  Three new private facilities with driving ranges have opened in Sai Kung and Tin Shui Wai, providing viable alternatives to the often-crowded ranges at Kau Sai Chau, Tuen Mun and Pokfulam.

  The Tin Shui Wai golf range is a 56-bay facility near Kingswood Villas. It opened in December and has excellent lighting for night use.

  The range has a fully-stocked pro shop and offers a six-hour golf clinic for $960. An unlimited number of range balls cost $60 per hour.

  The Garden Farm Golf Centre at Ma Kwu Lam has developed into a popular meeting place for golfers in Sai Kung since opening in April.

    The 66 bays are full most nights but advance bookings can be made by calling the centre.

 Unlimited range balls cost $30 for 30 minutes, while group lessons, limited to six people, are $680 for four hours. Individual lessons are $500 an hour.

  The Sai Kung Ho Chung golf driving range, which opened last month, has 30 bays. The club is selling yearly memberships for $2,500, with the price inclusive of 35 hours range use and a 30 per cent discount at the pro shop and snack bar.

  Hourly lessons cost $400 and an unlimited number of balls are $70 per hour on weekends and $50 on week days.

   Tycoon Li Ka-shing, an avid golfer, has entered the market with his Harbour Plaza Golf Course.

   The Dongguan club, jointly-owned by Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, is a 27-hole Robert Trent Jones II layout with lightning-fast PGA Tour-style greens.

   No expense seems to have been spared and the course's opening in May will considerably raise the bar for luxury golf developments.

   At Shunde City, about an hour's drive from Guangzhou, Royal Orchid International Golf Club is open for 18 holes play. The 6,354-yard layout was designed by Nick Faldo and features the country's first David Leadbetter Golf Academy.

   The club is offering 50 per cent discounts on green fees to prospective members who book tee times through its sales office at 2377 2368.

  For more information on the growing mainland China golf scene, a new book, China Golf Course Panorama 1999, provides a comprehensive look at more than 50 of the estimated 60 courses in the country.

  Details can be accessed at www.wonderful.com.hk 



Facilities offer chance for all to try the game